PowerPoint Presentation...2017/04/03 · Parent Representation Report the Appointment Established under Section 107.066, Family Code List Appointee as: Office of Child or Parent Representation
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OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION Appointments and Fees
The reporting of appointments and fees in all civil cases was required by Supreme Court order since 1994. Due to poor reporting, the legislature created Chapter 36 of the Government Code to statutorily mandate reporting of certain appointments and all fees paid for those appointments.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 36, Government Code
All appointments of and any fees paid to
attorney ad litem guardian guardian ad litem mediator competency evaluator
in any type of case
HOWEVERmost jurisdictions will have little to nothing to report in criminal and juvenile cases
Report
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Chapter 36 of the Government Code requires every court in the state to report all appointments of and any fees paid to an Attorney ad litem Guardian Guardian ad litem Mediator or Competency evaluator in any type of case, including criminal and juvenile cases. However, most jurisdictions will have little or nothing to report for criminal and juvenile cases since the vast majority of appointments occur in civil cases.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 36, Government Code
These are NOT attorneys appointed for indigent defense in criminal or juvenile cases
“physician or psychologist who performs examinations to determine whether an individual is incapacitated or has an intellectual disability for purposes of appointing a guardian for the individual”
Attorney ad litem
Competency evaluatorGuardianship cases only!
Presenter
Presentation Notes
There has been a lot of confusion about what should be reported for appointments of attorneys ad litem and competency evaluator. First, an attorney ad litem only applies to civil cases (including family, probate, guardianship and mental health). It does NOT apply to attorneys appointed for indigent defense in criminal and juvenile cases. Information on those appointments are reported to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. The requirement to report competency evaluators does not apply to criminal or juvenile cases either since the reporting statute defines a competency evaluator as a “physician or psychologist who performs examinations to determine whether an individual is incapacitated or has an intellectual disability for purposes of appointing a guardian for the individual.”
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 36, Government Code - Exclusions
Mediation conducted by an alternative dispute resolution system
Appointment under program for volunteer advocates in child protection cases
Appointment under domestic relations office
Any information made confidential under stateor federal law, including applicable rules (e.g., judicial bypass cases)
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The statute also lists 4 types of appointments that do not need to be reported. These are A mediation conducted by an alternative dispute resolution system established under chapter 152 of the civil practice and remedies code An attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, amicus attorney or mediator appointed under a domestic relations office established under chapter 203 of the family code A guardian ad litem or other person appointed under a program for volunteer advocates in child protection cases authorized by section 107.031 of the family code, and Case information made confidential under state or federal law, including applicable state or federal rules. An example would be judicial bypass cases. Cases made confidential by local rule must be reported.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Reports Required Each Month
All appointments
All fees approved/payments made
For each court: 2 reports:
REGARDLESS of
AMOUNT or SOURCE of fee
and
EVEN IF there was NO ACTIVITY
$1
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Two, separate reports must be submitted for EACH court each month, whether or not the court had any activity: one report for all appointments made during the month and one for all fees approved or paid during the month. The appointments and fees must be reported regardless of amount of the fee or the source of the fee.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Reporting Requirements – AppointmentsFor each appointment, must report:
Name of judge/magistrate signing order
Court
Case number and style of case
In matters where confidentiality of the parties is required by state law or rule, or made confidential by local rule, judges and clerks should use discretion regarding the style of the case.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Now let’s go over the information you will need to report if you do have activity. For each appointment made, you must report: The name of the judge or magistrate who signed the order The name of the court and The case number and style of the case. In cases where confidentiality of the parties is mandated, discretion should be used regarding the style of the case. For instance, instead of listing the name of an incapacitated individual, show the case style as in the interest of an incapacitated person.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Reporting Requirements – Appointments
Name of person or entity appointed must include State Bar number if attorney
Position to which appointed
Relationship to ward or deceased, if applicable
Date of appointment
Presenter
Presentation Notes
You must also report The name of the person or entity appointed. Note that the person’s State Bar Card number must be included if the person is an attorney The position to which the person or entity was appointed If relevant, the relationship of the appointee to the ward or deceased and The date of appointment
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Reporting Requirements – Fees
All of same information reported for Appointments (except Date of Appointment) plus
Date of approval/payment of fee
Source of fees
Amount of fee
If payment greater than $1,000 report, also include
number of hours billed &
billed expensesif the info is available to the court
Presenter
Presentation Notes
For each fee approved or paid, you must, in a separate report, include all of the same information that was reported for the Appointment, except for the appointment date, plus the date the fee was approved or paid, The source of the fee And the amount of the fee. In addition, if the amount of the fee is greater than $1,000, the report should include the number of hours billed and the total amount of billed expenses if the information was made available to the court.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Fee Source
Reporting requirements DO apply to
Fees in “private pay” cases, sources other than County funds
Examples of Fee Source
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As mentioned earlier, the reporting requirement applies to fees approved for an appointee no matter what the source of payment will be. It is not limited to fees paid by the county. This slide lists examples of potential sources for payment of a fee.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Special Situations
Contracts for a set fee regardless of number of cases
Office of child or parent representation
Managed assigned counsel program
Mediators
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Now we will go over what to report in certain situations that do not fit neatly into the reporting scheme.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Attorneys Ad Litem and Guardians Ad Litem Under Contract for Set Fee
Report the Appointment
Contracts with law firms or specific individual to provide legal services for a set monthly/annual fee regardless of the number of cases
Law firm:
Name of law firm as the Appointee or
Name of specific attorney serving as counsel of record on case
Individual attorney:
Name of attorney
Fees do not need to be reported
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Some jurisdictions have contracts with law firms or specific individuals to provide attorney ad litem or guardian ad litem services for a set fee regardless of the number of cases to which the ad litem is appointed. In this situation: If the appointee is a law firm, report the Name of the law firm as the appointee, or The name of the specific attorney that is serving as counsel of record on the case If the appointee is an individual, report the name of the attorney. Because the appointee is paid 1 amount no matter how many cases he or she handles, the fees do not need to be reported.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Attorneys from Office of Child or Parent Representation
Report the Appointment
Established under Section 107.066, Family Code
List Appointee as:
Office of Child or Parent Representation
(or use whatever name it is called in your county)
Fees do not need to be reported
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In cases where the appointee is from an office of child or parent representation, you will report the appointment and list the appointee as Office of Child or Parent Representation, using whatever name it is called in your county. You do not need to report the fees approved in these cases.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Attorneys on List Maintained by Managed Assigned Counsel Program
Report the Appointment Report the Fees if
Established under 107.103, Family Code for representation of children and parents
List Appointee as:
Managed Assigned Counsel Program
(or use whatever name it is called in your county)
Fee is set payment(monthly/annual amount) regardless of number of cases
Paid to managed assigned counsel program on per-case basis
Paid directly to attorney on per-case basis
Do Not Report Fees if
Presenter
Presentation Notes
In cases where the attorneys are on a list maintained by a managed assigned counsel program, you will list the appointee as managed assigned counsel program, using whatever name it is called in your county. You will report the fee if The fee is paid to the managed assigned counsel program on a per case basis or Fees are paid directly to the attorney on a per-cases basis You will not report the fees if the fee is a set payment, monthly or annually, regardless of the number of cases.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Mediators
Local rules mandate mediation for nearly all cases & county/court does not maintain list of mediators
Parties agree on mediator, judge may sign agreed/appointment order but does not select mediator
Judge authorizes mediation but assignment of mediator handled by another entity (e.g., district attorney’s office) and parties have say in selection of mediator and agree on mediator
Do Not Report When
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Finally, there are certain circumstances in which appointments and fees do not need to be reported for mediators. Reports for mediators are not required if Local rules mandate mediation for nearly all cases AND the county or court does not maintain a list of the mediators The parties agree on a mediator. The judge may sign an agreed order or an appointment order but the judge has no role in the selectin of that mediator. The judge authorizes mediation but the assignment of the mediator is handled by another entity, such as the district attorneys office AND the parties have a say in the selection of and agree on the mediator
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Mediators
Parties don’t agree on mediator, judge selects and appoints mediator
Judge authorizes mediation but assignment of mediator handled by another party (e.g., district attorney’s office) and parties have no say in selection of mediator
In any of these situations, any fees approved/paid, including fees from sources other than County funds
Report When
Presenter
Presentation Notes
You must report mediator information When the judge selects and appoints a mediator because the parties involved cannot agree on one. When the parties have no say in the selection of a mediator. An example would be when the judge authorizes mediation but the actual assignment of the mediator is handled by another party, such as the district attorneys office In any of these situations, report any fees approved/paid, including fees from sources other than county funds.
OFFICE of COURT ADMINISTRATION
Collecting Required Information
Judges/clerks need to locally determine specifics about how information to be obtained
Recommend:
Each appointment be made by written order to document appointment
Each approval of payment to made by separate order
Examples of forms can be found on websitehttp://www.txcourts.gov/reporting-to-oca/appointments-and-fees/district-county/
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Judges and clerks will need to locally determine the specifics about how the required information is to be obtained. When the Supreme Court established the requirement of reporting appointments and fees by the district and county courts in 1993, it included the following procedural requirements in its order: each appointment is to be made by a written order; each approval of the payment of a fee is to be accomplished by a separate written order; and orders making appointments or approving the payment of fees are to be sufficiently specific to enable the clerks to prepare the required monthly reports. We would recommend that all other courts follow these procedures so that the court and clerk get the information that they need to meet the reporting requirements.
Any court failing to provide clerk information required for the report is ineligible for grant money awarded by the state or a state agency for the next fiscal biennium
beginning September 1, 2017
Penalty
Presenter
Presentation Notes
As previously mentioned, each month a report of all appointments made and fees approved or payments made must be received for every court, with no activity reports required if no appointments or fees made. Courts should be aware that they will be ineligible for grant money that is awarded by the state or a state agency for the next fiscal biennium if they fail to provide the clerk office with the required information so that they can submit the reports to our office. This will be effective beginning September 1, 2017.
Once a month, the statistics webpage is updated with any new information received for the fiscal year. This page also contains lists of all reports received or not received by court.
We are now at the end of the webinar. We hope you found this to be helpful and that it provided you with the information necessary to complete the reports. If you find that you still have questions, it may be helpful to read the instructions and the frequently asked questions on our website. If you still have questions, our email and phone and fax information is listed here so that you may contact us if you have any questions. Thanks for taking the time to view this webinar.
